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Business today

Softwaremaker gets another new name

By Times Staff
Published December 13, 2005

The Tampa company once known as Blue Ocean Software is being renamed for the second time in three years. The new moniker: Numara Software Inc. Boston-based TA Associates Inc. said Monday it has completed its $200-million acquisition of Numara from Intuit Inc. Most recently known as Intuit Information Technology Solutions, Numara makes "Track It" software used by computer help desks and has more than 45,000 customers.

Clearwater mortgage firm to be acquired

First American Title Insurance Co. will acquire TransContinental Title, a mortgage business based in Clearwater, the companies said Monday. TransContinental has about $61-million a year in revenue and completes more than 8,000 transactions a month. Terms were not disclosed. Hyde Park Capital Advisors of Tampa served as TransContinental's investment banker for the transaction with First American, a subsidiary of First American Corp. of Santa Ana, Calif.

Japanese brokerage hit with penalties

Regulators on Monday ordered a Japanese brokerage house to compensate investors with hefty penalty payments following a massive trading error that news reports said could cost the brokerage up to $333-million. The trading settlement unit of the Tokyo Stock Exchange said it will order Mizuho to pay about 912,000 yen ($7,560) per share in cash to investors who bought into recruiting firm J-Com Co. after Mizuho's erroneous order.

Private-equity group to buy Dunkin' Donuts

Three private-equity firms will pay $2.43-billion for Dunkin' Donuts and two other restaurant chains, the companies announced Monday. French beverage company Pernod Ricard SA agreed to sell Dunkin' Brands to Thomas H. Lee Partners, the Carlyle Group and Bain Capital four days after bidding closed in an auction for the U.S. fast-food company - owner of the Dunkin' Donuts chain, Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlors and Togo's sandwiches.

AOL co-founder calls for Time Warner split

Steve Case, the co-founder of AOL and one of the main architects of the disastrous AOL-Time Warner combination, now says the world's biggest media company should be broken up into four business units. Case laid out his argument for breaking up Time Warner Inc. in the Washington Post on Sunday. He said the company would be better off as four separate units: AOL; an entertainment company; the magazine publisher Time Inc.; and Time Warner Cable.

T-bill rates fall

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in Monday's auction. The Treasury auctioned $18-billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 3.820 percent, down from 3.930 last week. An additional $16-billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 4.180 percent, down from 4.185 percent.